From the beginning of the manifestation of the Covid-19
virus in America the defenders of Donald Trump have expressed less interest in
the spread of the virus or efforts to combat it than they were in keeping-up
appearances and crafting an alternate narrative.
You
needn’t go back in time more than a couple of months to note that news about
the spread of the virus was a conspiracy to harm the President. The media was being ‘alarmist’. It was ‘fake news’. It was nothing more harmful than the 'common
cold'. It was a ‘hoax’ cooked-up by the
Democrats.
The growing pandemic of January was
observed thru the lens of how this would impact Trump’s reelection
prospects. And of course this is completely predictable when you understand that the needs of an individual stricken
with the virus and fearful of infection are lost on the self-centered
personality. In the end Trump spent
almost two months denying that the virus was a serious problem.
As a consequence, instead of being
presidential Trump resorted to his usual strategy of lying. He has lied about the spread of Covid-19. He has lied about progress in stemming the
spread. He has lied about relief to
cities and states impacted by the spread.
And he has blame-shifted others as his administration delayed
action. All along he has vacillated
between taking genuinely sensible action and continuing to lie.
I wonder how many Trump supporters are genuinely enthusiastic about his parade of lies?
On
Monday he shared another whopper when he said that hospital masks might be
going out the back door. An implication
that doctors or other healthcare workers were stealing the masks instead of
using them.
Donald Trump is a chronic and unrepentant liar.
Faced with a living record of the lies during the period of the growing outbreak Trump and his minions are scrambling to rewrite
history. The latest lie is that Trump was too preoccupied and
distracted by the impeachment to deal with the unfolding crisis. It was the fault of the CDC. Trump had plenty of time to tweet, play golf
and hold rallies throughout January and February. All the while he downplayed and lied about the gathering storm.
So here's the deal. Watch for the
propagandists to employ three tactics:
- Flood the media and supporters with every tardy,
postponed and delayed action Trump has taken
- Much like the North Korean government they will amplify
self-congratulatory praise of the president. Anybody beside me tiring of the afternoon circle jerk?
- Finally, they will deploy the Roy Cohn tactic and
‘punch-back’ ten times harder at any and every one critical of the
president.
Never forget – this is all about him, only and always.
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